TCM's understanding of the etiology and pathogenesis of brain cancer

Traditional Chinese medicine has a long history of understanding brain cancer. The "Lingshu·Cijiezhenxie Pian" believes that the cause and pathogenesis of tumors are mainly due to "there is already a knot, Qi returns to it, body fluids remain in it, evil Qi enters it, condenses into the field and becomes more serious, and then gathers together."

Zhu Danxi believed that "the lumps in the middle and lower parts of the body are mostly phlegm", and "phlegm rises and falls with the air and can reach everywhere". Coincidentally, Gao Jinting believed that "cancer is not caused by the accumulation of yin and yang qi, but by the stasis of blood, turbid air and phlegm in the five internal organs". Both of them pointed out that tumors are related to phlegm.

However, the disease is located in the upper part of the body, and the main symptom at the beginning is headache. Some people think that it is caused by wind and phlegm, but the symptoms are progressive. By the time the symptoms become apparent, the headache has already occurred. This is the pathogenesis of qi stagnation and phlegm stagnation, and qi stagnation will lead to blood stasis.

"Lingshu. The Origin of All Diseases" says: "Blood coagulation is accumulated and does not disperse, body fluids are blocked and do not go away, and the accumulation is formed." Therefore, brain tumors are caused by phlegm and blood stasis or stagnation of qi and blood. The ancients said: "Excess qi is fire", and also said: "Phlegm is a tangible fire". Phlegm and qi can accumulate and turn into fire, and fire has the tendency to burn upwards, so heat is also one of the causes of brain tumors.

"Essential Readings in the Medical Ancestral" said: "The accumulation is caused by insufficient vital energy, which then takes over the evil energy." It can be seen that this is a symptom of vital energy deficiency and excess evil energy. The reasons for the vital energy deficiency are, first, spleen and kidney yang deficiency. The brain is the sea of ​​marrow, and the kidneys produce marrow that connects to the brain. When the kidneys are deficient, the sea of ​​marrow is empty and the evil energy takes advantage of the opportunity to enter. The spleen is responsible for transportation and transformation, and spleen deficiency causes dampness to accumulate and produce phlegm, which causes phlegm to coagulate and blood stasis to enter the skull and occupy a space, forming a brain tumor. Second, liver and kidney yin deficiency causes yin deficiency and yang hyperactivity, which turns fire into wind and occupies the upper position.

In short, brain tumor is a disease of the marrow sea, mostly caused by phlegm and dampness accumulating in the brain, causing qi stagnation and blood stasis in the brain, increased intracranial pressure, blocked blood vessels, which will turn into heat and wind over time, and can also damage yin and fluid, leading to liver and kidney deficiency, depletion of fluid and loss of nutrition, accumulation of evil and toxins. These many pathogenesises can interact with each other, further damaging the vital energy and worsening the evil, causing symptoms such as headaches, vomiting, and convulsions to persist and not be relieved, and become a stubborn disease.